Animal chews (e.g., for a dog or cat) have been used to provide the animal an outlet for its natural chewing urge and/or to aid in cleaning the teeth of the animal. Such chews have conventionally been constructed in various forms (e.g., bone-shaped (or dumbbell-shaped), rope-like, cloth-like) using: (a) a synthetic material (e.g., vinyl, plastic, polyurethane, latex, nylon; an abrasive material); (b) a plant by-product (e.g., rubber); or (c) an animal by-product (e.g., rawhide).
Examples of such conventional chews include: (a) U.S. Pat. No. Des. 308,122 to Markham, et al. (pet toy); (b) U.S. Pat. No. 2,103,083 to Lynch (teeth cleaning and gum massaging device); (c) U.S. Pat. No. 4,802,444 to Markham, et al. (therapeutic pet toy); (d) U.S. Pat. No. Re. 34,352 to Markham, et al. (therapeutic pet toy); (e) U.S. Pat. No. 4,825,812 to Visalli, et al. (horse pacifier); (f) U.S. Pat. No. 5,263,436 to Axelrod (bone-shaped therapeutic device for dogs); (g) U.S. Pat. No. 5,647,302 to Shipp (animal dental hygiene device); (h) U.S. Pat. No. 6,148,771 to Costello (chew article for animals promoting dental health/gingival health); (i) U.S. Pat. No. 6,217,408 to Willinger (self righting pet toy); (j) U.S. Pat. No. 6,439,166 to Markham (animal toy with raised features); and (k) U.S. Pat. No. 6,474,268 to Suchowski, et al. (composite chew toy).
Among those benefits and improvements that have been disclosed, other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying figures. The figures constitute a part of this specification and include illustrative embodiments of the present invention and illustrate various objects and features thereof.